Railroad tie



July 1, 1958 w. H. FAIRBERT 2.841.338

RAILROAD TIE Filed Sept. 16, 1955 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. W l MI? 1!. FAIRBERT ATTORNEY July 1, 1958 w. H. F IRBERT RAILROAD TIE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 16; 1955 INVENTOR. Wit .4 MW 6'. F/i/RBERT AT ORNEY United States Patent C RAILROAD TIE W lliam H. Fairhert, Beloit, Wis.

Application September 16, 1955, Serial No. 534,739

1 Claim. (81. 23859) This invention relates to improvements in railroad ties and the principal object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, simple, eflicient and durable metal railroad tie that is provided with means for easily attaching railroad rails thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide a railroad tie that is formed of a minimum number of parts and is so constructed that it will give adequate support for the railroad rails positioned thereon.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists of the novel details of construction, arrangement and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a railroad tie embodying the invention with a pair of railroad rails in position thereon;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the tie of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tie;

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view on the line 77 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the tie and the removable end plate therefor;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the top of one of the clips for holding the railroad rails; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the bottom of the clip of Fig. 9.

Referring more in detail to the drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals, the reference numeral is used to generally designate a railroad tie embodying the invention.

The tie 15 is made of a weather resistant metal and comprises a base portion 16 having a depending end flange 17 and a pair of depending side flanges 18 and 19. The end flange 17 and the side flanges 18 and 19 are bevelled outwardly with relation to the plane of the base 16 to prevent creeping of the tie 15.

The end of the tie 15 opposite to the end having the end flange 17 thereon has a removable end plate 20 which is provided with a top flange 21 and side flanges 22 and 23. The top flange 21 and side flanges 22 and 23 of the plate 20 are bevelled so that the flanges may fit within the open end of the tie 15.

Each of the side flanges 18 and 19 of the tie 15 are provided with openings 24 and the base 16 of the tie 15 is provided with a pair of relatively spaced openings 25. The flange 22 of the plate 20 is provided with an opening 26 that will become aligned with the opening 24 in the flange 19 of the tie 15 when the flanges on the plate are inserted into the open end of the tie 15 and a bolt 27 may pass through the thusly aligned openings. The flange 21 of the plate 20 is provided with a pair of relatively spaced openings 28 that will become aligned with the openings in the base 16 of the tie 15 when the flanges on the plate are inserted into the open end of the tie 15 and bolts 29 may pass through the thusly aligned openings. The flange 23 of the plate 20 is provided with an opening that will become aligned with the opening 24 in the flange 18 of the tie 15 when the flanges on the plate are inserted into the open end of the tie 15 and a bolt 30 may pass through the thusly aligned openings. A nut 31 is positioned on each of the bolts to retain the bolts in tightened relation to the tie 15 and plate 20.

Adjacent each end of the tie a square shaped opening 32 is provided and an opening 33 extends from one side of the opening 32.

The opening 32 receives a similarly shaped projection 34 on a clip 35, Figs. 9 and 10. The clip has an attaching portion 36 on which the projection 34 is formed integrally therewith and a bolt receiving opening 37 is at the edge of the projection 34 within the portion 36. The clip 35 has a rail engaging portion 38 that is connected to the portion 36 by an elevating Web 39 that extends at an angle from the portion 36.

The base 16 is also provided with a second pair of openings similar to the openings 32 and these openings are spaced from each other a distance to receive a railroad rail 40. Thus, when the rails 40 are in position as in Fig. 1, the rail engaging portion 38 of the clips 35 will engage the flanges 41 of the rails 40 and when bolts 42 are passed through the openings 33 in the base 16 of the tie 15 and the opening 37 in the clip 35, the clips will be compressed onto the flanges 41 of the rails 40 by means of nuts 43 so that the rails will be retained in fixed relation to the tie 15.

The rails 49 are of conventional design having fish plates 44 joining the ends of the rails 40 and connected to the rails 40 by means of bolts and nuts 45.

A longitudinal arch shaped web 46 is secured to the bottom surface of the base 16 centrally thereof. The web has two short ends 47 and 48, respectively, and the lower longitudinal edges of the Web incline downwardly toward each other to terminate at the common low point 49 of the web 46. The sides of the web 46 also taper inwardly toward the lower longitudinal edges of the web.

The bolts 42 and clips 35 permit easy removal and replacement of the railroad rails 40 and if one of the bolts 42 should need replacement the end plate 20 can be removed for such action.

It is believed that the construction of the tie and the manner of mounting the rails on the tie will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is to be understood that changes may be made in the novel details of construction, arrangement and combination of parts provided they fall within the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A metal railroad tie comprising a base portion, and end flange, side flanges, a removable end plate tele scopically receivable in said base portion and having a top, sides and an end flange, and a longitudinally extending arch-shaped web centrally and integrally secured to the under surface of said base portion with its ends in spaced relation to said end flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 798,581 Guilliford Aug. 29, 1905 933,553 Griflin Sept. 7, 1909 950,970 Topping Mar. 1, 1910 980,788 Jankiewitz Jan. 3, 1911 1,183,678 Sandberg May 16, 1916 1,586,052 Snyder May 25, 1926 

